I Don't
by OneSidedLoveStory
Summary: Neji has run away from the bindings of the Hyuuga house, and has been living on his own for some time. But when he gets word of Hinata's soontobe marriage, he decides he must attend, wanted in the Bingo book or not.NejiHina


The cold wind rushed past the man's body, rippling through his hair as he ran. He ran fast, rushed, but precise with every step. As he jumped he closed his eyes and he felt free.

_Free._

Neji Hyuuga let the word and the feeling run through his body, as he had many times before. It had been a while since he had been to Kohona, or around Kohona at all, as he was worried of another clan member's Byakugan spotting him.

It had been three years, a month and a couple of days since he ran away.

It wasn't exactly running away, it was more of an escape. With the Hyuugas, everything has rules that are set in stone. They can always tell when you're going against said rules. They had control over everything you did. Even more so for Branch members.

But now, Neji was free.

He was living on his own, in a small cottage somewhere near the Village of the Mist. He often had intruders who either wanted to fight or steal something. Either way, they never got past the front door.

He had what he had always wanted now, he was free to make his own choices, free to do what he wanted.

And yet something was missing. Sometimes, at night, he would remember his friends, his family, and his cousin.

_Hinata._

Neji kept a low profile, often wearing a hat or a mask, or something that would cover his eyes. If somebody found out there was a Hyuuga in the area, all the clan leaders had to do was go to that spot and use their powerful eyes to check the surrounding forests.

But so far, Neji had succeeded in letting nobody know who he was or where he lived. So it surprised him when he making a routine trip to the village and he overheard a conversation that startled him quite a bit.

**flashback**

"_Hey, did you hear about the heiress to the Hyuuga clan?"_

"_The one with the big knockers?"_

"_Yeh, that's the one. Well, she's getting married."_

_Neji drew in breath. The very mention of Hyuuga clan peaked his interest, but the heiress? Wasn't that Hinata? It seemed the conversation had switched topics now, but he had to know more._

_After all, she was family._

_He casually strolled over and sat next to the older ninjas._

"_Hey, you were saying about the chick with the big …knockers?"_

_Neji inwardly cursed himself for speaking of Hinata this way. She was main house, and not to mention, she respected him even though she was of higher class. And, most importantly, she was his cousin._

"_Yeah, she's marrying off to the Hokage. Lucky bastard, getting to bang-"_

"_Wait, who's the Hokage?"_

'_Last time I even bothered to check it was Tsunade.' Neji mused to himself._

"_Naru…somethin', blond hair. I think it's the old brat who has the fox in 'im. But like as I was sayin', he's oen lucky bastard. Getting to hit that shit! Man, I'd kill to have a night with her. The things I'd do; whoo-ee!"_

_Neji was taken aback, and would've punched him in the face without a second thought, if not for keeping the low profile._

**end flashback**

So now, after some snooping, he got the date the two were to be wed, and he planned on attending.

'_After all, Hinta is my cousin._'

Neji was now not far from the village gates, and coincidentally enough, there was a group of people making their way in the same direction.

He looked at the group of three people. Two men, looking almost alike, were talking a little too loudly about training or something relating to it. A brown haired girl was walking ahead of them, obviously annoyed.

The people were familiar to him, very familiar. But he didn't quite pin it down until he was close enough to hear the words 'youthful exuberance' and see burns on the girl's head.

"My team."

The runaway branch member didn't notice how coarse his voice was, or how choked up he was. He had forgotten all about them when he left. Sure, he'd thought of them, he still had his memories, but he never really _thought _about them.

He watched as they walked without hurry back to Kohona. Well, as the two men walked back to Kohona without hurry. Neji's old sparring partner turned around, giving the rest of her team a stare.

"I know you two aren't in a rush or anything, but it had to be my luck that I had a mission on the day before I'm supposed to be a bridesmaid! So if you wouldn't mind, could we hurry it up a little? I have to do stuff."

The two spandex clad men stopped abruptly at her outburst. Tenten wasn't usually one to take lengths for her appearance or want to cut short a mission. But then again, Hinata was one of her closet friends, and it was her wedding.

Gai-sensei smiled, offering her a big thumbs up.

"You got it, Tenten! In fact, last one back to the village does five hundred pushups!"

He placed his hands on his hips, and Neji watched as his old 'rival', Lee, got into position.

"Yes, Gai-sensei! I would be honored to race you and Tenten-chan!"

The aforementioned girl just rolled her eyes.

The teacher readied himself as well. "On your mar-"

And Tenten was off, already soaring through the trees and coming closer to where the Hyuuga was watching.

Neji moved from the branch he was standing on just as Tenten jumped on to it. She stopped there though, looking in the direction where the branch's previous occupant had left.

Neji was suddenly overcome with an emotion that was quite uncommon to him; horror. Had she seen him? Would she tell everyone that she did? He wanted to distance himself, only to find he couldn't. He looked at her from his hiding spot; she had changed so much. The only thing that hadn't changed about her was her hairstyle. He almost smiled when he thought 'She never changes her hairstyle.'

Tenten lifted a hand to the spot where Neji had been leaning. It was still warm.

"N-Ne..ji."

She spoke in hushed tones, laced with sadness and a touch of rejection. Her expression matched her voice.

"Come along Tenten, you're going to be late!" Gai yelled from below her.

The brunette shook her head, and put a smile on her face. "No, I'm not!"

And she was gone.

Neji took a moment, still confused by the look she had had. Was it his fault she seemed so sad?

Did he even care to think about what his leaving did to everyone around him?

He let himself linger for no more than a minute before hurrying off after his old team. After all, they were his key into the village.

The word 'team' resounded through his head as he ran, the old feeling of togetherness that was now so foreign to him was recalled, and now that he thought about it, he was lonely all this timer

Everything was coming into perspective now, and yet it was falling apart. Why did he leave everything behind? Why didn't he just stay where he was welcomed, where he was wanted by people who cared, and not wanted as another person in the bingo book?

The genius was distracted from his thoughts by Gai Sensei's voice resounding through the forest, greeting the men at the gate. Neji looked upon this place, his old home. It held so many fond memories, good and bad. He had never been breath taken by Kohona before, but he couldn't help feeling overwhelmed.

"I do not regret my choice."

His voice was low, but stern as if commanding himself to believe the words that had been forced past his lips.

The guards were busy with Gai Sensei at the moment, he was most probably telling them all about the heroic mission he had just completed.

'_Now's my only chance._'

With a speed that he surprised himself with, he ran past the small group quickly on the opposite side of the entrance. Neji had never been more grateful for Gai's over exaggerative personality or the guard's disinterest in it.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Tenten was lazily looking elsewhere, asking herself what she did to deserve Gai as her teacher for the hundredth time this week. She wished he would understand that she still had to pick what she was wearing with the dress, prepare a speech, possibly let her hair down and find a way to not feel weird without the buns.

Something barely out of sight suddenly caught her attention. Something resembling a flash of white sped past her, and she would have cast it off as imagination if not for the small breeze that came with it. She looked back at Lee and Gai who were talking loudly, and decided they wouldn't miss her if she escaped for a bit.

'_It's probably a… cat or something. You jump to conclusions too fast, Tenten._'

The weapons master frowned.

'_Great, now you're talking to yourself_.'

She quickly followed the blur around the corner and saw it go into an alley, being as discreet as possible. She stopped right before the turn in to the dark alleyway, breathing quietly. Slowly, she placed herself up against the wall, looking around the corner.

It was then she saw a man dressed in white with long brown hair. His back was to her as he leaned against the wall. Her eyes widened.

_They had just let enemy ninja into the village._

Weapon scrolls at the ready, she pulled out two Kunais and threw them at the strange figure who quickly deflected them in a style that was all too familiar to Tenten.

Dark brown eyes stared with disbelief into pale expressionless ones.

The woman's scrolls dropped to the floor with a loud clattering sound.

Her lips parted as she drew in breath; blinking to be sure she wasn't seeing things.

"Neji…"

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Please R&R for the next chapter!


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